Vietnam Amateur Open to tee off in June

      The Vietnam Amateur Open will tee off on the storied-layout of Dalat Palace Golf Club in the Central Highlands resort city next month, organizer Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) has announced.
The VGA expects 80 men and 24 women, including some of the top young golfers in Southeast Asia, to compete at the four-day, 72-hole tournament, which is scheduled to commence on Thursday, June 11.
Previously called the Vietnam National Championship, the Vietnam Amateur is open to any non-professional living in Vietnam, Vietnamese non-professionals residing abroad and two non-professionals under age 23 from other ASEAN countries, as designated by those nations' golf associations. They must also have handicaps of 4 or better to be eligible.
Among the Vietnamese golfers expected to compete for the men's title are 2006 Vietnam National Championship winner Nguyen Van Thong and brothers Nguyen Tri Duong and Nguyen Thai Duong, both of whom are students in the U.S.
The finalists of the tournament will be determined after the second round on Friday, trimming the men's field down to 30 players and the women's to 12.
The ladies will play one more round to determine a champion, while the outstanding men will play two, with the winners hoisting their trophies at an award presentation on Sunday afternoon.
Vietnam Television (VTV) will broadcast live both the final round of the tournament and the prize ceremony, which will be held at the Sofitel Dalat Palace.
Dalat Palace Golf Club won the right to host the prestigious tournament for the second consecutive year on the merits of its performance in 2008, when Chee Yung Fung took the inaugural men's title and praised the course for its championship qualities.
"The course was fun, the course was challenging," Fung said in a statement sent to the Daily on Monday. The talented, 18-year-old Malaysian finished 11-under-par to win the trophy by eight strokes.
VGA secretary general Nguyen Ngoc Chu said Dalat Palace Golf Club was the right venue for Vietnam's most prestigious tournament. "The rise and fall of its terrain offers players variety and spectators and TV crews great sight lines," said Chu, who is also chairman of the tournament's organizing committee.
Owned by Danao International Holdings, Dalat Palace Golf Club is among the country's top courses. In its last four Planet Golf surveys, Golf Digest USA rated the course, which overlooks Xuan Huong Lake, the best in the country.